Colin MacPhail

Colin MacPhail (1540-1557) was a Scottish nobleman who, in 1557, took part in Catherine de Medici's plot to ruin the marriage between Prince Francis and Mary, Queen of Scots by drugging and raping Mary.

Biography
Colin MacPhail was born in Galloway in 1540, the son of a servant of King James V of Scotland who had been granted large holdings by the King. In 1557, he became betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots' lady-in-waiting Mary Fleming, and the two of them came to Queen Catherine de Medici of France to seek her blessing for their marriage, as they would live in Paris to help serve Queen Mary. Catherine secretly recruited Colin into her plot to ruin the marriage of Queen Mary to her son, Prince Francis, as Nostradamus had predicted that their marriage would lead to Francis' death. Colin was sent to drug and rape Queen Mary, but Mary was warned of the poisoning by an unknown courtier, and Colin was then arrested and executed by order of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine, who covered up her guilt in the plot.